laity

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

laity
    n 1: in Christianity, members of a religious community that do
         not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy
         [syn: {laity}, {temporalty}] [ant: {clergy}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Laity \La"i*ty\ (l[=a]"[i^]*t[y^]), n. [See {Lay}, a.]
   1. The people, as distinguished from the clergy; the body of
      the people not in orders.
      [1913 Webster]

            A rising up of the laity against the sacerdotal
            caste.                                --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The state of a layman. [Obs.] --Ayliffe.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Those who are not of a certain profession, as law or
      medicine, in distinction from those belonging to it.
      [1913 Webster]

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

LAITY. Those persons who do not make a part of the clergy. In the United 
States the division of the people into clergy and laity is not authorized by 
law, but is, merely conventional.

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